Tag: music x technology

Several members of the Listen team have spent the past week in Amsterdam gearing up for an ambitious addition to our Music x Technology program with Microsoft. We’re beyond excited to launch Bloom: Open Space with Brian Eno (yes, that one) and his development partner Peter Chilvers at Trafo House, Westergasfabriek.

This installation unlocks the incredible creative power of Microsoft HoloLens, taking Eno and Chilvers’ popular app, also called Bloom, out of 2D and into mixed reality. Working closely with Eno, Chilvers, and the HoloLens team at Microsoft, we were able to bring this generative music and art piece to life — for five days only. After getting fitted for a HoloLens, guests at the installation can use simple gestures to create beautiful and engaging music and art in the air around them.

It’s the first foray into mixed reality both for Eno and for our Music x Tech program. As for what he hopes guests take away from Bloom: Open Space, Eno says, “I would like it if people come away from one of my installations wanting to slow down and take more time… It’s a question of somehow getting people to get into a different gear, to enjoy the pleasure of a slower rate of stimulus, to strike a new relationship with a piece of technology.”

Go behind the scenes of this mixed reality generative music experience in the video above, and check out photos of the installation below. If you’re in Amsterdam, grab a ticket and join us at Bloom: Open Space daily through February 25th.

Call Khaled because we got another one. We’re thrilled to share that Listen has nabbed a Bronze Clio Entertainment Award for our original game created with Microsoft and M83, Meet Me At Go!

The game draws on vintage ’80s arcade styling, and is optimized for touch screens (like the Microsoft Surface). We were inspired by M83 frontman Anthony Gonzalez’s love of gaming to create this retro race game, which was released in place of a music video alongside an 8-bit remix (which we also composed) for his hit song, “Go!.” Play the game here, or read more about the collaboration here.

Calling all electronic-music fans! Listen is heading to Amsterdam for the sprawling Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), which consumes the city October 18-22 with a mix of club nights, industry workshops and panels, and intimate performances from major artists. In between all-night ragers and carefully curated DJ sets, Listen co-founder Steve Milton and Microsoft Director of Strategic Partnerships Amy Sorokas will be sharing the latest from our Music x Technology program.

Part of the Dance & Brands ADE conference programming, our panel discussion, What Every Artist Needs To Know: Game Changing Technology, will take attendees through recent collaborations with Alison Wonderland, Childish Gambino, M83, and more, highlighting the customized Microsoft technology that took their live performances and music videos to another level. If you’re in town, join us on Friday, October 20 (12-1pm). Then, jet lag permitting, find us front row for EDM wunderkind Martin Garrix.

We’re proud to announce that last night at Lincoln Center, Listen took home the two Music Clio Awards we were shortlisted for last month. For our work with Microsoft and Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover), we snagged the Gold in Partnerships/Collaborations and the Silver in VR.

Part of the Microsoft Music x Technology program, our collaboration included an immersive live experience and VR component around Gambino’s 2016 release, Awaken, My Love!. Working with streamlined Microsoft tech, including Kinect and Azure, we developed PHAROS, a physical and digital experience that fans worldwide could access.

Learn more about PHAROS, or see how the Music x Tech program empowers artists and fans alike. And we’ll see you on stage again next year…

Get the tux out of storage and take your gown to the dry cleaner: Listen has been shortlisted for 2 Clio Music Awards! Both nominations are for our work with Microsoft and Childish Gambino, where we brought artist and brand together to collaborate on an incredible VR album release and concert experience, PHAROS.

This was one of our most ambitious projects to date in the Microsoft Music x Technology program, and we’re thrilled to see our work recognized. Read more about PHAROS and the Music x Tech program, and root for us at the Clios on 9/27 in the Partnerships & Collaborations and Digital/Media Music Marketing categories.

We were thrilled to work with rising star Alison Wonderland for the latest installment in the Microsoft Music x Technology program. We collaborated with the LA-based dance DJ (incidentally, the first female DJ to headline the main stage at EDC Las Vegas) and creative technologists to produce new, jaw-dropping visuals — all powered by a compact Surface-based tour kit that can adapt to any stage size.

Inspired by spiritual iconography and elements of high fantasy, her new visuals are totally dynamic, meaning that she and her VJ can control them in real time, on stage. From stained-glass reveries to fiery hellscapes, the visuals move and change with Alison and her music, leading to an even more thrilling and immersive show for attendees.

Watch the video to learn more about Alison Wonderland’s creative inspiration points, and the energy she pours into all her shows. Catch her new visuals in action starting on August 5 in Chicago, and throughout international tour dates this summer into fall.

For the latest Music x Technology project, we worked with Microsoft and Washed Out on their collaboration around Washed Out’s new album, Mister Mellow. The album is his first fully immersive multimedia experience. Every track is accompanied by an original music video, created by 11 different video artists and utilizing several forms of animation, from Claymation and stop-motion, to hand-drawn cartoons.

To take his bold vision even further, we collaborated to produce a dynamic live show, allowing fans to experience in person his “impressionistic view of the world.” The creative team behind the collab turned to Microsoft technology to translate the rich, detailed patchwork of Mister Mellow’s music and visuals into an equally powerful live experience. Advanced live integrations mimic the wide range of artistic styles seen and heard on the album.

Each component of the live show has been designed as an extension of a song and its music video, creating a vivid, sometimes absurd world for fans to explore during his tour. Thanks to the robust output and compact size of the Kinect-powered system, Washed Out will be able to share the experience with fans around the world.